Crom Cruach
Crom Cruach '(スチール曲げ ''Suchīru mage) also known as '''The Crooked Man (曲がった男 Magatta otoko) is an extremely powerful demon and the General of the 8th division of the Occultus army. He was originally an etherious demon created by Zeref over 400 years ago for the purpose of human sacrifice. The more that were sacrificed to him, the stronger he became, but in time human sacrifices became unacceptable and Crom lost some of his power. Appearance Crom Cruach's appearance looks like an average human, albeit, a 6'3 tall and strangely muscular one. His face is surprisingly handsome for a demon, there is no red skin, wicked black spikes, or scales; no, there's just the look of a dashing rogue. Crom's hair is a bright, reddish-gold, the same as his thick stubble. He wears a tan, wool jacket over a black cloth shirt. Crom has an ornate leather belt with a pure gold buckle, standard jeans, and tan construction boots. His arms, hands, and chest are covered in more thick reddish-gold hair. Of course, that's only Crom's human form, his real form is more like that of a demon. His true form is that of a 7'8 horned, beast with sharpened claws and matted fur. The beast also has some kind of antlers only adding to its already huge height, these horns are razor sharp and can go through flesh like butter. He has thick, coarse, black fur that trails down his back ending at the base of his spine. Crom's bestial form has its skin stretched across his skull, with bright, white fangs that hang down over its completely non-existent lips. Personality Crom's personality is that of a tired veteran, his movements are sluggish and slow most of the time and he wears an almost, annoyed face most of the time. He dislikes working hard or being faced with what he calls annoyances. Crom sometimes acts unfitting for a demon general, losing his temper when he doesn't get enough sleep or something annoys him. And it hasn't been uncommon for a political adviser or politician to go missing after entering Crom's office. Crom is also a very lazy person, often taking naps instead of doing paperwork, filling out battle reports, or taking care of his division's budget, instead thrusting that responsibility on interns and secretaries. And, since a rather unpleasant episode with a political official, there's a new policy that unless it's an incredibly serious matter, no personnel should wake Crom from a nap. Despite this, Crom does care for those that are his underlings, usually taking blame for them and making sure they are alright. This is part of why Crom's soldiers enjoy working under him and consider him a competent leader. Crom figures that the best way to have soldiers respect you is to gain their trust. So, Crom has taken initiative multiple times in the pursuit of saving a squad of soldiers or sparing an intern from a political mess. While usually lazy and careless, Crom Cruach is an seasoned war veteran and master strategist. Both in his human form, and his bestial form Crom is a dangerous combatant. Behind his mask of sluggishness Crom is a calculating individual and a sworn warrior. Crom has a strong sense of honor and abides by his own personal creed consisting of three certain rules. # Never kill children, elderly, sick, or other non-combatants. # Torture, while not preferred, can be used as a last resort. # If an opponent surrenders honorably, and you haven't been ordered otherwise, grant he/she mercy and respect. History "Childhood" Crom Cruach has been alive for a full 441 years and in that time has learned many things. In his so-called "childhood" Crom was a ruthless psychotic, demanding people sacrifice children and young women to him. He enjoyed watching the unfortunate creatures under his rule suffer endlessly as a form of sick entertainment. Despite demanding so much of them, Crom did nothing to protect them from plagues, curses, beasts, or invading soldiers, instead, sometimes orchestrating such tragedies for drama and hilarity. If the humans he controlled did not sacrifice on time, he would come down to their village and reign death upon them before returning to the mountains of his home demanding triple the sacrifices next time. The Defeat It wasn't until Crom turned 191 that he was handed a humiliating defeat at the hands of a noble paladin, where Crom's arrogance costed him the fight. As Crom begged for mercy like a pathetic child he began feeling an endless pit of guilt, realizing this must have been what it was like for the humans. Luckily, the paladin granted him mercy on the grounds that he would leave and never be seen again. Wounded and helpless, Crom skittered away into the darkness of the night, never to be seen for decades to come. In his exile, Crom had a lot to think about, including his own choices and the nature of the world itself. Eventually, Crom came to the decision that he must be make up for his own choices by finding a worthy cause to fight for. So, he altered his physical form using a variety of magical stones and druid spells and set about the world to find his true calling. It wasn't until his 392nd birthday that Crom would find such an opportunity in the shape of a mage named Absalom who offered him a new life in the country of Occultus. Being the Demon At one point, after coming home from a scouting mission, Crom was stopped by an overzealous Devil Slayer by the name of Heath. As doing so could cost him a lot of paperwork, Crom attempted to negotiate and leave, but it was entirely in vain because as soon as Crom lowered his guard, Heath attempted to finish him by mean of Petrification ''but to no avail. At this point Crom was left with no other option except to fight and engaged the foolish mage, the battle was almost entirely one sided. For every attack that came close to connecting, Crom would disperse and reappear delivering a flurry of blows to the devil slayer. Crom was about to deliver the death blow, after hours of agonizingly slow fighting, before he noticed something in the young mage changed. Almost like a switch had gone off, before there was a deep change in the fighter's physical form, his skin grew pale, his eyes grew a strange red, and his teeth became serrated knives that could slice through bone like water. Heath had tapped into his Devil Synchronization and awakened his other personality: Halphus. The boost in power changed the tide of the battle and it looked like Heath could win, but before he could unleash a final, devastating attack he collapsed of sheer exhaustion. In the end Crom was faced with a mountain of paperwork, multiple inquires, and almost got suspended for fighting a Devil Slayer but was let off with a warning. However, Crom was not the least bit concerned, instead he was puzzled by the strange surge of power, because even among etherious it is a rare sight, and resolved to study it. And until the two fighters meet again, Crom will train to understand and counter the Devil Synchronization. Powers and Abilities Swarm Curse (スウォーム呪い ''Suu~ōmu noroi): The Swarm Curse is a curse the involves the use of thousands or parasitic insect that swarm over and devour a target. These insects feed off not only the flesh of the victim, but their ethernano particles as well. These insects can appear from seemingly nowhere, rising up out of the ground or out of Crom's jacket sleeves. Some of these insects can also be used to inject a small amount of paralyzing, hallucinogenic venom. * The Eighth Plague (第八ペスト Dai hachi pesuto): Crom summons several thousand insects that can swarm over miles of land. Crom has used this before to wipe out entire armies overnight or destroy a small fortress, this is due to the fact that the insects are strangely quiet and can sneak up on an enemy. * Cloak of Corpses '(死体のマント''Shitai no manto) Crom covers himself in a thick layer of insect protecting him from enemy attacks or other extreme conditions. Crom can also use these to created a wall of insects if given some time or a small screen if caught off guard. * 'Rain of Pestilence '(ペスティレンスの雨 Pesutirensu no ame): Crom creates a stream of insects to attack opponents. This is a very versatile spell as the insects can be used to create different shapes and forms. Crom can use them to create cannonball-like shots, long tendrils, or just large clouds of them. * 'Fog of War '(戦争の不透明さ Sensō no futōmei-sa) Crom summons thousands upon thousands of insects to gather around him in a large, 5 mile wide field. This barrier can effectively cut off troops, ensnare enemies, and provide a night impregnable defense. Sacrifice Magic (マジックを生け贄に捧げます Majikku o ikenie ni sasagemasu): Crom's original magic and his former source of power. Sacrifice Magic involves the use of human sacrifice to fuel one's magic and health. This is done by first sacrificing a human before activating the magic, this magic then absorbs the ethernano, nutrients, and other essentials of the victim to give the user enhanced strength, vitality, magic, speed, etc. * '''Enhanced Qualities: '''As stated above, the magic gives the user enhanced physical and magical capabilities, and can even extend the user's life. '''Superhuman senses: '''While both in beast form and human form, Crom's senses are noticeably sharper than any regular human or mage. His sense of smell is especially heightened, being able to smell opponents from miles away. '''Superhuman Strength: '''While both in beast form and human form, Crom has strength beyond that of any human or mage, being able to bench press cars easily. This comes in handy when facing an average opponent because he doesn't need to use any magic. '''Superhuman Speed: '''While '''in beast form Crom can outrun cars, wagons, and trains easily. This speed makes it difficult to land an attack on Crom. No human soldier or other normal mages can outrun Crom which makes it easy to clean up any remaining enemies.Category:Thirteen Demon Lords Category:Demon Category:Male Category:Mage Category:Caster-Mage Category:Etherious Category:Alvedrez Category:Sacrifice Magic User